17 January 2022  |  HR

Jo Swift sets up mental health support team at Mabanaft

Mental health in the workplace is becoming increasingly important. Jo Swift explains what the team at Mabanaft has been doing to encourage good mental health.

Supporting mental health in the workplace is becoming increasingly important, especially since lockdowns were imposed in response to the Covid pandemic. Recognising the need to support peoples’ mental health Mabanaft decided to set up a support service for staff in the UK. 

Jo Swift, PA to the Head of UK and Management Team and a champion of good mental health in the work place, has been working with Mabanaft's HR manager and other team members across the group to raise awareness and put support systems in place.

TRAINING TO SUPPORT MENTAL HEALTH 

"In 2020, our HR manager invited a group of us to join her on an intensive training course with MHFA England, the largest provider of mental health training courses in the UK," said Jo. "We attended a three-day training course covering many of the issues associated with mental health and highlighting some of the signs to look out for. It was very thorough, we were provided with training manuals to study and there were numerous practice sessions covering potential mental health scenarios and ways to approach them."

A PROACTIVE APPROACH 

Mabanaft now has a team of mental health first aiders available to listen and offer support to colleagues. The team takes a proactive approach, sending out regular communications with useful information relating to mental health and wellbeing. They have also run online workshops with specific advice for people working from home covering subjects such as ‘Ways of Managing Positive Productivity’, ‘How to Maximise your Energy Levels’ and ‘Nutrition Wellness in the Winter'.

"These sessions were well attended so we’re planning to hold more, both online and face-to-face now that we are returning to the office," said Jo. "We’ve come a long way in terms of offering health and wellbeing support and will continue to develop and improve our offering in the months and years ahead. I believe we need to do away with the stigma around mental health. So many people suffer from related issues at some point in their life and when this happens, having someone to talk to can really help.”